«O culto ao diabo» na Inquisição de Goa, segundo o Reportorio de João Delgado Figueira (1623)

Abstract

Taking into consideration the Reportorio of the inquisitor João Delgado Figueira, kept by the National Library of Portugal, we address the question of what meant the «worship of the devil» in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition of Goa. Although brief, the information listed in Repertório allows us to recognise the difficulty to differentiate types of accusation related to that category. This difficulty seams to reveal misapprehension of the local context by the Inquisition. Inquisitors, and a few defendants and witnesses, certainly would interpreted certain local rituals in the light of their beliefs related to a magical universe in Europe, which explains the practice of these rituals by a significant number of defendants, including high ranked reinóis.